Ukrainian military personnel have recovered a historic chair belonging to Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, returning the long-lost artifact to the Lviv Archeparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
The chair was discovered during the liberation of occupied territories near Kursk, Russia, hidden with a local restorer.
According to Valerii Marchenko, a senior pastor of the Gethsemane Protestant community, the recovery was possible through the efforts of a military chaplain named Yurii, who served in the Third International Legion.
Metropolitan Igor, Archbishop of Lviv, confirmed the authenticity of the artifact. He explained that the chair was illegally removed from Lviv in the 1980s by Nikodym Rusnak, a metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The military transported the chair to Lviv. Currently, the artifact requires restoration and reconstruction of missing elements. The Lviv Archeparchy plans to collaborate with historians and patrons to fund the restoration process.
Andrey Sheptytsky was a prominent Ukrainian Greek Catholic leader who served as the Metropolitan of Galicia and Archbishop of Lviv from 1901 to 1944, promoting Ukrainian national identity and ecumenism. He is also remembered for his humanitarian efforts during World War II, particularly for saving Jewish children by hiding them in Catholic institutions.
Additional context on museum looting by Russians
This highlights broader issues of cultural artifacts during the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine. According to Kyiv Independent investigations, Russian forces have been systematically looting museums.
From Kherson alone, Russians reportedly stole over 33,000 historical artifacts and artworks during their retreat. Journalists spent months tracing the perpetrators, identifying Russian officer Dmitry Lipov as responsible for securing these collections during transportation.
Russia has systematically targeted and destroyed Ukraine’s historical architecture and museums during the war, with over 1,000 cultural heritage sites damaged or destroyed, including iconic buildings like the Vasyl Tarnovsky Museum and the Kherson Regional Art Museum. This deliberate destruction aims to erase Ukrainian cultural identity and heritage, with many museums looted and historical artifacts lost.
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